Sometimes it's best to just bite the bullet. I am speaking about paying the extra money to book a t

From the record-time it took us to make it through the airport to board our plane as the gate was closing, to the plethora of beautiful mosques london vacation packages and important historical sights scattered throughout the city, to haggling in the Grand Bazaar with stubborn merchants, to traveling between continents in the same day, to some interesting decisions we made; the best way to describe my trip to Istanbul is as an adventure.  Within that context are many more words that come to mind such as unique, different, fascinating, historic, intriguing, and lucky.
Sometimes it’s best to just bite the bullet.  I am speaking about paying the extra money to book a taxi to take you to the airport.  CIMBA reserves travel buses to take us to the airport, but the bus was scheduled to leave campus at 5:30 pm and our flight was at 7:00pm.  Paderno del Grappa is slightly over an hour from the airport, so taxi rides cost about 80 euro.  Therefore, when taxi rides are necessary, a group of 8 or so students book a group taxi to save some money.  In this case, Seamus (my travel companion for the weekend) and I opted to wait until 4:45pm to take an 8 person taxi and save some money.  Oh, and when I said our flight was at 7:00pm, london vacation packages I meant that the plane departure time was at 7:00pm!  We did not realize this until about halfway through the cab ride and knew that we had booked an uncomfortably short time window. london vacation packages It did not help that the taxi driver decided to drive the speed limit (for the first time) so we did not arrive at the airport until 6:10pm!  We sprinted from the taxi to the check-in counter and were greeted by bewildered flight staff for Turkish Airlines who began to frantically make phone calls because the flight was full.  We then sprinted to the longest security line I have experienced in Europe and knew there was no way we were making the flight unless we jumped to the front.  A short awkward conversation and a couple upset Italian travelers later, we were through security and running towards passport check-in. By now, it was 6:36pm (I still remember the exact time) and we were worried the gate was going to be closed.  Through passport control, we continued london vacation packages to rush to the gate. I am no runner and was holding my carry-on bag so by now I was feeling the exertion.  We arrived just as the flight attendants were closing the gate, promptly found our seats, and fist-bumped to celebrate our achievement.  Our trip to Istanbul was officially underway!
london vacation packages Our plane ticket said that we were to arrive in Istanbul at 10:25pm, but when we touched down at the airport my watch claimed it to only be 9:25pm. After an embarrassing 15 minutes of confusion, I realized it was because Turkey’s time zone is 1 hour ahead of Italy’s time zone,  meaning Turkish time is 7 hours ahead of U.S. time.  We had to purchase Visa’s in the airport because we were outside the EU and exchange Euro for Turkish Lira.  It is almost 3 TL per 1 Euro so the exchange rate was in our favor.  A cab drove us to our hostel which was located near Istiklal Street, the nightlife hub of the city that leads to Taksim Square and is a short distance from the historic center.  We walked around for a bit and called it an early night to be well rested for Thursday.
Thursday we arose early, london vacation packages bought an Istanbul card (a must!) for the public transportation system, and headed to the historical area.  First stop on our list was the Topkapi Palace.  Topkapi Palace is like going to the Louvre in Paris.  While many people associate Paris to the Eiffel Tower, they know they are missing out if they do not see the Louvre as well.  The Topkapi Palace operated during the times of the Ottoman Empire and houses invaluable relics from the Muslim world.   Among the highlights that we saw were Moses’ staff, King David’s sword, Muhammed’s cloak, sword, and even beard hair!  There were also many exhibits displaying the riches acquired by the Ottoman Empire as well as traditional clothes worn by the kings.  The Kings’ robes were enormous so I feel it is safe to say that one of the requirements to be an Ottoman king was to be spatially gifted!  The palace also housed london vacation packages the Imperial Harem where the Sultan (what the Turks called their kings) london vacation packages could visit his many wives and concubines.  I noticed that the interior decoration consisted of intricate tiles covering every inch of the walls.  I overheard a tour guide tell his group that the cost for a single tile during the time the palace was built is slightly over $10,000 today!  Talk about excessive wealth!
From the palace, we enjoyed the ridiculously inexpensive Turkish cuisine.  For only 4TL, we were able to purchase chicken kebabs that were tasty and filling.  We then toured the archeology museum which I found added to the experience of being in Istanbul because it illustrated the East meets West history of the city and gave historical context.  Next we went to the world famous Sultan Ahmed Mosque. Does not ring a bell?  How about the Blue Mosque?  The Sultan london vacation packages Ahmed Mosque is the Turkish name for the mosque.  Only travelers london vacation packages call it the Blue Mosque because of the blue tinge of its architecture.  The mosque is still an active worship center and we were required to take our shoes off before entering.  Those wishing to worship in the mosque must bathe their feet, hands, neck, face, and hair in the public fountains before entering.  Cleanliness for prayer is a core belief in the Islam faith.  The Blue Mosque was breathtaking and unlike Catholic churches, it was carpeted.  Outside the Blue Mosque, we snapped some pictures and I snapped one picture of Seamus walking on his hands to which a Muslim Turkish man immediately identified us as Americans.  Looking back, it was quite a stereotypical london vacation packages American thing to do Anyway, the Muslim london vacation packages man, Omar, was friendly london vacation packages and gave us a brief history lesson about the Blue Mosque!  He informed us that we were fortunate to have visited on a Thursday, because Friday is the Muslim day of prayer and access to the mosque is severely limited due to worshippers.  Keep this in mind if you plan to travel to a predominantly Muslim nation!
Next, we walked a short distance london vacation packages to visit the Hagia Sophia.  The Hagia Sophia is another well-known international attraction.  It was originally a Greek orthodox basilica that was transformed into a mosque and is now the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I found the history of the Hagia Sophia to be much more exciting than the actual building.  The name, Hagia Sophia, literally translates to “Holy Wisdom”.  It was first built in 360 AD during the Roman Empire, but was converted into a mosque in the 1400s following the defeat of the Roman forces holding the city.  Both the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and the Hagia Sophia tower over the landscape of historic Istanbul offering quite the exceptional view.
From the Hagia Sophia, we headed to the Grand Bazaar determined to fit the entire Old City into 1 day.  The Grand Bazaar is a famous market in Istanbul with hundreds of shops and vendors selling all kinds of local goods.  Seriously, london vacation packages it seemed to be never ending rows of brightly colored stalls and pastry shops.  A key tip for the Grand Bazaar is to haggle, haggle, and haggle some more!  We witnessed countless tourists accepting the first prices they were offered which were much more than they should london vacation packages have paid.  Seamus and I purchased two shirts for half the price after some intense haggling.  The language barrier made it even more fun . at least I thought it did!
This is where we made our first interesting decision.  On our way back to the hostel from the Grand Bazaar, we stopped in a travel agency just to see if there were any day trips we could take on Saturday.  Instead, we saw a flyer for a “traditional Turkish Night” cruise london vacation packages on the Bosphorus River for that night.  It was a reasonable cost and featured traditional Turkish dances as well as an open buffet (and open bar )so we signed up!  The cruise was what I expected and more.  We were welcomed onto the boat and handed Raki drinks.  Raki is a strong Turkish alcohol that is served in a tall glass with water that makes it appear murky.  It is not the most pleasant taste, but we are always on a quest to taste as many local dishes as possible so we dutifully consumed our beverages.  When we seated at our assigned seats, we discovered that we were sitting next to the only other two Americans on board: a couple of army guys stationed in Germany.  It was comfortable having other Americans on board and throughout the night we chatted.  Before the boat even left the dock, they opened the buffet london vacation packages line and the smorgasbord began!  During london vacation packages the feast, london vacation packages we were served Turkish wine and beer.  In my opinion, their wine paled in comparison to Italy’s delicious vineyard selections, but the Turkish beer was surprisingly delicious! It was a light beer, but tasted very rich.  Finally, the shows began! london vacation packages We were treated to a lineup of traditional Turkish dances ranging from gypsy dances to belly dancing to a strange skit where they dress up in costumes and engage with the audience.  The cruise also hosted a magic show and live music.  The magician liked to incorporate the Americans in his skit and I was chosen for some of the more embarrassing parts.  No complaints though because it allowed for some sweet pictures and made the night even more entertaining!  The boat pulled back into dock at midnight.  We and the army guys decided to walk around Isiklal london vacation packages Street for a bit before turning in for the night.  It had been a fantastic Thursday and we were so happy that we decided to sign up for the night cruise at the spur of the moment.
Friday we journeyed to another continent: Asia.  Turkey is a unique london vacation packages country in that it spans two continents: Europe and Asia.  Istanbul is an even more unique city because it also spans those two continents!  For an unbelievably small amount, less than 1 euro, we hopped on a ferry that brought us to the Asian side.  Although the Asian side of Istanbul does not have the impressive sights as doe